When you make the decision to become a contractor, you must understand that it’s definitely no walk in the park, and it is indeed a bit more tedious than most people think. In a nutshell, a contractor is the “beauty and the brains” of construction projects, in a sense, so in order for projects to be completed successfully, you must be licensed to complete any project, and depending on where you live, the licensing requirements may vary significantly.

For example, to obtain your contractor license in Virginia, you’ll need to take an 8-hour pre-licensing course, purchase your exam prep and books to study, and then pass the state exam. Once you pass the state exam, you can then apply for your license, but the state exam is what will determine whether or not you’ll become a contractor.

Passing the exam will weigh heavily on your mind, but don’t worry, and don’t let those pre-test jitters get the best of you. Every state’s exam may be slightly different but what will always remain consistent is the test-taking skills you need to pass, and this applies to whether you’re trying to pass the UCAT exam or your Virginia contractors license exam. Of course, the biggest component in passing your exam is knowing the materials so that when you start taking the exam, nothing will seem foreign to you.

But, there will still be things like wording or phrasing that can sometimes “trip you up” on certain questions that will make you unsure of the correct answer… that’s okay.

By following these tips, you’ll be sure to have more confidence in your test-taking skills, and will pass your licensing exam with flying colors.

Test-Taking Tips to Pass Your Contractor’s License Exam

Don’t Compare Yourself With Other Applicants

Obviously, you’re not the only person interested in becoming a contractor and passing the exam, but you can’t sit around worrying about what other applicants are thinking or how they’re answering their questions. When taking the exam, you’re given plenty of time so don’t worry if other applicants are finishing before you because they may be taking a completely different exam than you.

*In many cases, different types of exams are given in one room, so you might be taking your contractor’s license exam but the person next to you might be taking their cosmetology license exam. So don’t ever rush through your exam because others are finishing before you.*

If You Don’t Know the Answer, Skip It and Come Back to It

This is an age-old trick that people have been doing since grade school, but it works. Even though you’re given plenty of time to complete your exam, you still don’t want to waste too much time on questions you don’t know the answers to. Instead, answer the questions you know and then come back to the ones that require a little more thinking from you… In most cases, the questions you don’t know the answers to are revealed in other questions that come up further in the exam.

Try Not to Second-Guess Yourself

A lot of times, this is where we go wrong in test-taking. Once you’ve answered a question, don’t go back and change the answer, especially if you’re unsure of the answer you’ve selected. But if you know without a doubt that the answer you’re wanting to change your answer to is the correct answer, then by all means do it.

A study was conducted on a high-stake medical exam on changing the answers on multiple-choice questions. The study revealed that out of the entire set of answers changed, 55% were changed from wrong to right, 25% were changed from right to wrong, and 20% were changed from wrong to wrong.

So, unless you know for sure that the answer you’re changing is right, try to stick with your gut instinct… Changing answers from right to wrong would be devastating.

If You Have No Clue, Make the Best Educated Guess You Can

After you’ve exhausted all your efforts to figure out answers to certain questions, the best thing you can do is make an educated guess… That probably sounds ill-informed, but guessing an answer is much better than leaving any questions unanswered, especially if you’re running out of time; You’re at least increasing your odds of getting an answer right versus getting them all wrong by not answering.

Make sure you’ve gone through your exam at least twice to try and find answers to your difficult questions in other questions.